Countdown to Kickoff

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia plays host to 13th-ranked Oklahoma in a Saturday night Big 12 game at Milan Puskar Stadium that will be televised nationally on Fox (Craig Bolerjack, Joel Klatt and Petros Papadakis).

Tonight’s game is Oklahoma’s first appearance in Morgantown. The two schools have played four times previously: three times in Norman in 1958, 1978 and 1982 and most recently in the 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz.

West Virginia has won the last two meetings, 48-28 in 2008 and 41-27 in 1982, after the dropping the first two games, 52-10 in 1978 and 47-14 in 1958.

West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen is familiar with Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, having faced his teams four times while at Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. Stoops, incidentally, is a native of nearby Youngstown, Ohio.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Here is tonight’s Countdown to Kickoff:

10 – Tavon Austin has caught at least TEN passes in eight of nine games this year and 10 of his last 12 dating back to last season. Austin has 12 10-catch games for his career.

9 –West Virginia has produced at least 500 yards of total offense NINE times in 22 games under Coach Dana Holgorsen.

8 – Oklahoma ranks EIGHTH in the country in pass defense giving up just 170.2 yards per game.

7 – Mountaineer quarterback Geno Smith has had 30 or more completions in a game SEVEN times so far this year and 12 times for his career.

6 – No opposing player has caught more than SIX passes against Oklahoma’s secondary so far this year.

5 – West Virginia’s Tavon Austin has returned FIVE punts or kickoffs for touchdowns for his career, including two so far this season – both coming in Big 12 play against Kansas State and TCU.

4 – West Virginia is tied with Louisiana-Monroe for FOURTH among all NCAA schools in fourth down attempts by going for it 29 times so far this year. Army leads the country in that category by going for it 39 times so far this season.

3 – In THREE games this year against James Madison, Baylor and Oklahoma State, junior wide receiver Stedman Bailey has caught 40 passes for 701 yards and nine touchdowns. In the other six games, Bailey has accounted for 35 catches for 354 yards and seven touchdowns.

2 – Geno Smith ranks SECOND in the nation this week averaging 31.67 completions per game.

1 – Oklahoma is making its FIRST appearance at Milan Puskar Stadium.

Enjoy tonight’s game and be sure to stop back afterward for complete postgame coverage.